Rumor Look Back: Apr. 11 – 17, 2020

WWE.com

Welcome to the weekly Rumor Look Back, where we look at the rumors from six months ago and see which played out as originally stated. Let’s get right to it.

April 11, 2020

• The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that “it is said to be up to Roman Reigns when he returns” from his absence. No one knows when that might be, however.
• It was at SummerSlam.
• According to PW Insider, WWE initially planned to tape every episode of TV in April over the next few days but decided instead that Raw and SmackDown will be airing live from the Performance Center going forward.
• They changed their mind on live for a little while.
• Per the Observer, AJ Styles is expected to be “out of action” to sell the Boneyard match where he was buried.
• It was about a month so I’ll give it to them. (1/1)
• Charlotte Flair was given the NXT title because there is a belief a main roster star is needed to help with ratings against AEW on Wednesday night, says the WON.
• Narrator: It didn’t help.
• Angelina Love signed a new contract with Ring of Honor, according to the Wrestling Observer.
• Not that she had a chance to be on ROH since.

April 13, 2020

• PW Insider speculates that Brock Lesnar will be off WWE television until things are back to how they used to be before everything shut down.
• We’ll see, but right now, it’s looking to be the case.
• Dave Meltzer mentioned on Wrestling Observer Radio that the Ronda Rousey stuff that happened over the weekend is not a work.
• This was referring to the ‘ungrateful fans’ she talked about.
• He also said that he expects her to work WrestleMania 37 in Los Angeles next year but she’s not expected back anytime soon.
• We’ll see about Mania 37.
• More from Meltzer: releasing The Revival when WWE did was likely because it was a Friday and it was going to get buried in the news. Plus, AEW has already taped so much television.
• Sounds like something they’d do. Of course, it was only so long until FTR showed up on Dynamite.
• Some rumors got around that Corey Graves was the on-air personality who got the coronavirus but the Observer says that’s not the case.
• We don’t really know unless talent admitted it, which eventually was discouraged.

April 14, 2010

• The mood at the WWE Performance Center before Raw was “one of uncertainty,” according to WrestleVotes. A lot of talent knew they shouldn’t be there, but realized it was their job.
• It was probably a very hard time for many of them.
• A person the site described as a friend of Roman Reigns told WrestlingNews.co that Reigns “probably” won’t return to WWE “for at least a few months”.
• It was August, so four months. (1/1)
• Despite everything that happened online last weekend and his belief she’ll be back at some point, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer writes that there are no current plans for Ronda Rousey to come back to WWE.
• It’s been six months and she hasn’t returned. (1/1)
• Video game designer Justin Leeper says WWE 2K21 has been cancelled. His sources tell him that instead, there are plans for a ”different kind of WWE game from a different kind of game developer.”
• This is likely referring to the WWE 2K Battlegrounds game. (1/1)
• UFC star Colby Covington told MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck he’s been talking to Bobby Lashley, Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey about transitioning to WWE and hopes to do so in 2021.
• He certainly isn’t the most likable guy.

April 15, 2020

• Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins looks to be one of the top matches for Money in the Bank.
• Yeah, it was one of the top three (four if you count the Money in the Bank as two matches). (1/1)
• Speaking of, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that The Street Profits vs. The Viking Raiders is in the plans for Money in the Bank.
• That was not on the card. (0/1)
• Per Meltzer, Jerry Lawler asked to go back to work and he was allowed to do so.
• This was right around the time he made his “Ramen Noodle Moonsault” call so he wasn’t back for too long.
• Not surprisingly, the word now is that Austin Theory has been officially called up to the main roster.
• It would say he wasn’t up long enough for that to be considered a real call up. He was back to NXT within these six months. (0/1)
• Wrestling Inc says MJF, The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, Nyla Rose, Pac, The Lucha Bros, SCU, and Big Swole didn’t take part in the most recent AEW TV tapings.
• I don’t recall any of these names in the Georgia tapings. (1/1)

April 16, 2020

• Some of the WWE releases yesterday were “mutually agreed upon” and “came with a hefty payoff”, at least according to what Voices of Wrestling and Tom Colohue were hearing.
• We haven’t heard anything more about that.
• Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston and Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer were among those saying WWE’s budget cuts weren’t done to ensure a profitable year, which probably would have happened even with WrestleMania and other losses. Instead they were done to maintain pre-pandemic profit projections.
• It was quite ridiculous. They had their most profitable quarter. Big business for ya.
• NXT releases received 30 days pay, per Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful. After 30 days, they’re “free to do whatever they want”.
• I guess those contracts aren’t written up the same with non-competes?
• Reporter Stephanie Coueignoux spoke to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and was told they were called to the WWE Performance Center several times in March & April to inform WWE they were violating the stay-at-home order and would have to shut down.
• WWE got themselves declared as an essential business, which is still such a ridiculous thing.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said Austin Theory being on Raw was a Paul Heyman call.
• That would make sense given his return to NXT happened after Paul left. Though being a named that was brought up in the #SpeakingOut movement may have also factored into it.

April 17, 2020

• WrestleVotes says that the number of people let go by WWE will be “well into the hundreds” by the time this is done.
• I guess we don’t know how many non-TV personnel was included.
• Wrestling Inc has learned about WWE furlough packets that say the furlough end date is July 1, but WWE has the power to change that date at their discretion.
• I know Nigel McGuinness returned to NXT UK, but I’m not sure how many producers who were furloughed returned.
• Brandon Thurston heard that WrestleMania 36 didn’t even reach 1000 buys on Fite.
• They do spend all their time advertising the Network.
• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that AEW’s Double or Nothing will “probably” take place in Florida, but there’s “no guarantee” the event will take place on May 23.
• It did happen in Florida at Daily’s Place. It aired on May 23. (1/1)
• He also noted that although El Hijo del Fantasma appeared on NXT wearing a mask and speaking Spanish, he actually speaks perfect English and was originally not supposed to wear a mask.
• This was part of his introduction. He played up his old character before shedding the mask and revealing himself as his new villainous character Santos Escobar.

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This week: 7/9 – 78%

Overall: 3,510/6,245 – 56.2%

Have a good week, everyone. Stay safe (and sane) out there.

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